Heart of Coal by Jenny Pattrick
I still haven’t settled on a rating for this book – I think the review will help me process my thoughts.
For me, the thing is the first book in this series The Denniston Rose was just such a great read. A real page turner that I was reluctant to put down.
I think Ms Pattrick had some idea how she wanted Rose, Michael & Bren’s story to continue, but she struggled to get the words on the page. Ms Pattrick seemed uncomfortable dealing with (view spoiler)[ the sexual abuse of Rose as a child (hide spoiler)]I came very close to giving up, but the book really picks up about a third of the way in. The rough, tough town of Denniston is Rose’s anchor and by the end of this book I understood that. But I think this book would be really hard to follow for anyone who hadn’t read The Denniston Rose first.
I was really ready for the book to be over by then, so in spite of parts of the book being really compelling reading I can’t go higher than 3.5★
Carol - She's So Novel! 